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Calloway County Judge Executive Says It’s Unlikely Fiscal Court Will Endorse Local Park Tax

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The Calloway County Judge Executive says it’s unlikely the Fiscal Court will endorse a local park tax that the Murray City Council unanimously supported last week.

Larry Elkins says the tax would give area parks 5 cents on every $100 of assessed property. That would total around $1.2 million dollars each year, which is 800,000 dollars more than the parks’ current annual budget. 

Elkins says the five-member Fiscal Court is looking into how the parks would use the money and for community feedback before making a decision.

“We’ve got until November so we’re trying to listen to both sides of the story and either endorse it or not,” he said. “I suspect it will be unlikely that the Fiscal Court will endorse it. But, you know, there’s five of us on the court, and we may have different opinions.”

The petition has about 500 of the 3,000 signatures necessary to put the matter on the November ballot. Those signatures must be collected by May.

Elkins says if the measure gets those signatures and enough votes this election season, it would create a taxing district.

“Once it’s created the local use of government will have no say over how the funds are spent,” he said. “The only input we would have at all is once every four years we would appoint park board members.”

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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